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Running an Elder Node

This guide walks you through running your own Elder node, from prerequisites to full node startup. Elder is powered by Cosmos-SDK and CometBFT, providing a robust foundation for rollup and blockchain infrastructure.

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Prerequisites

  • Go v1.22 or higher installed
  • $GOPATH/bin added to your PATH (usually GOPATH=~/go/bin)
  • Git installed
Elder is in rapid development. Documentation and code may change. GitHub access is currently limited to early partners. Expect improvements as the project approaches public testnet.

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1. Clone and Build Elder

# Clone the Elder repository
$ git clone https://github.com/0xElder/elder.git
$ cd elder

# Install dependencies
$ go mod tidy

# Build the Elder daemon
$ go build -o $GOPATH/bin ./cmd/elderd

# Verify installation
$ elderd --help

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2. Initialize Node and Validator

# Initialize node config (replace 'eldertest' with your node name)
$ elderd init eldertest --chain-id elder
# This creates ~/.elder/{config, data}

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3. Configure Node Settings

Edit the following files in ~/.elder/config:
  • app.toml
    • min-gas-prices = "0elder"
  • client.toml
    • keyring-backend = "test"

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4. Add Keys to Test Keyring

$ elderd keys add alice
$ elderd keys add bob

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5. Create Genesis Account & Validator

# Add genesis account
$ elderd genesis add-genesis-account bob 1000000000000000elder

# Generate validator transaction
$ elderd genesis gentx bob 10000000000elder

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6. Collect Genesis Transactions & Start Node

$ elderd genesis collect-gentxs
$ elderd start
Your Elder full node is now running!

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7. Enable API & gRPC (Optional)

To interact via REST or gRPC, update ~/.elder/config/app.toml:
  • gRPC
    • grpc.enable = true
    • grpc.address = "localhost:9090" (or 0.0.0.0:9090 for all IPs)
  • REST
    • api.enable = true
    • api.address = "tcp://localhost:1317" (or tcp://0.0.0.0:1317)
For advanced configuration, troubleshooting, and updates, see the official Elder node docs.